Cybersecurity issues pondered at Connected Car Expo

• 03-Dec-2014 02:40 EST

Traffic signal controls at risk range from the simple light to complex multi-lane speed limits, noted IOActive, a computer security firm.

Cybersecurity is the elephant in the room in every discussion on the connected car, including of course, at the Connected Car Expo of the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show.

"There is no solution, just acceptable levels of risk because of communication with the outside world," was the comment by Chris Valasek, Research Director of IO Active, a computer security services company, at an expo session.

The security challenge of auto infotainment connectivity

Carhacking is a 21st century crime. Connected cars can offer a gateway for cyber criminals to hack into systems. How can infotainment systems help automakers combat this threat?

$25 gadget lets hackers seize control of a car

• Updated 17:52 17 July 2013 by Paul Marks
• Magazine issue 2926. Subscribe and save
• For similar stories, visit the Cars and Motoring and Computer crime Topic Guides

After journalist Michael Hastings's death, there were rumours that his car had been hacked. Now two researchers say they can do it for real

IN THE early hours of 18 June, a Mercedes coupé travelling at extremely high speed along a Los Angeles street smashed into a palm tree. It exploded into flames, killing the driver; the impact ejected the engine 50 metres clear of the car. Was it an accident? Or was the car hacked, allowing it to be driven off the road by remote control?

The very idea might sound crazy – but it's one that Richard Clarke, a former counterterrorism adviser to the US National Security Council, has raised after the driver was identified as Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings. Known for his revealing articles on the US military and its intelligence agencies, Hastings had emailed colleagues the day before he died to say that he was going "off the radar for a bit" to chase down a "big story".